Food Traditions & Specialities

[tod2]

Travel certainly broadens not only the mind, which is like a parachute - works best when open, but titillates the taste buds if you have an adventurous palate.
I regret not trying the famous 'tielles' when I was in Sete, South West France. These are little pies filled with spiced octopus.

When I visited Pezenas i did try the famous Petits Pâtés de Pézenas. History says it's all credit to Lord Clive of India. They were not to my taste though.





Something up to the minute which I'm missing out on -

If you are visiting a French boulangerie (bakery) in January, no doubt you’ll find the traditional ‘Galette des Rois’ on sale. In Paris, the flaky ‘Kings’ cake’ is everywhere, you just can’t miss it. Whether you’ll love it or not, it’s just a question of personal taste but these days they come in all different flavours and sizes.

The traditional galette is a layer of almond frangipane nestled between two layers of puff pastry but you can get loads of other options; pistachio, chocolate, raspberry etc. Hidden inside the filling is a little lucky charm and the person who finds it is the king or queen for the day! Mind your teeth though as often they are made out of ceramic and can be quite painful if you actually bite into it!!

The Galette is an integral tradition of Epiphany. This long-held religious celebration takes place on January the 6th. It celebrates an event told in the Bible when the Magi visited baby Jesus.
If you go to the Notre-Dame cathedral on or after the 6th January, look for the Nativity and you’ll see that on the 6th January the Three Kings have been added to the scene!

[bjd]

Those flaky pastry ones with frangipane can also be bought here in the southwest, but more common are galettes de Limoux

[kerouac2]

As I said elsewhere already, I am not a big fan of the galette des rois, although every now and then when I am obliged to eat a piece, sometimes it isn't bad. Usually I find it 1) too dry and flaky and 2) not sweet enough. Naturally, these are two attributes that some people love. I almost never eat French pastry, but when I do eat it, I want it to be appropriately sweet. Otherwise, why bother? Dessert items should be transgressive.

The galette de Limoux looks pretty good actually.

[bixaorellana]

The French king cakes sound quite tempting. There is a whole thread on king cakes in general: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/3190/make-king-cakes-mardi-gras

This is a great theme for a thread, Tod! I'm interested in those petits pâtés -- savory? what's in them?

There are so many food traditions where I live. The king cake tradition at Epiphany, of course, ponche at Christmas time -- an always disappointing drink, in my opinion. Something nicer are the empanadas de Corpus -- a terrible name, but it only refers to the special empanadas sold at the feast of Corpus Christi in Oaxaca. This article is only in Spanish, but the short video gives a nice look at the flaky pastry. Probably the best known bakery good from Mexico is pan de muertos -- bread of the dead. There are also buñuelos, fried discs of dough served with syrup in the Christmas season. This overview of Mexican breads (in English) is chock full of links to the pertinent recipes.

[tod2]

Bixa - those Pates de Pezenas were warmed slightly but the consistency of the minced lamb etc was indeed like a sweet pate`. Hard to describe the flavour but I did not warm to it.

I am quite amused to find one can buy Clive of India curry powder at various stores and on line.
What would he think of that!?
Clive left India for the last time in February 1767. In 1768, he lived for a time at the Chateau de Larzac in Pézenas in the Hérault département of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Local tradition says that he was responsible for introducing the local pastry makers of Pézenas to a sweet pastry, Le petit pâté de Pézenas, the size and shape of a large cotton reel with a sweet centre, and that he (or, more likely, his chef) had brought the recipe from India as a refined version of the savoury Keema naan.[45] Pézenas is now known for these delicacies.

[onlyMark]

Jan 8, 2018 14:57:16 GMT tod2 said:

Travel certainly broadens not only the mind, which is like a parachute - works best when open......

But, as with a parachute, in some people it unfortunately has the habit on arrival of collapsing, being folded up and put away.

[kerouac2]

The next big tradition coming up in France is the "chandeleur" -- 40 days after Christmas. This falls on February 2nd. You are supposed to eat crêpes on that day. They are round and yellow and symbolise the return of the sun.

I have never in my life eaten a crêpe on February 2nd, but I'm pretty sure that I am one of the rare people in France who hasn't.

[lagatta]

Hmm, Kerouac has nailed PRECISELY why la galette is one of the rare desserts I like. I don't like very sweet foods, but do like some with a touch of sweetness such as brioche. Also some Southeast Asian dishes that have a bit of sweetness, along with other flavours.

A buttery brioche is plenty transgressive...

[kerouac2]

Butter is hardly considered to be transgressive in France which consumes 8.2kgs a year per capita. It's true that Canada is much more moderate with 3.2kgs.

[tod2]

Is the butter shortage over Kerouac? Or maybe I'm reading old news.

[rikita]

i like dessert that is sweet and creamy and unhealthy ... and lots of it ... so most of the drier not so sweet cakes aren't my thing. which is a problem as most in my family praise cake or dessert for being not too sweet, so when i bake it is always a balance between being sweet enough for me, and yet still okay for them ...

[kerouac2]

We can have dessert together, rikita !

Tod, there was never really a butter shortage, just panic buying fueled by the média.

[lagatta]

I suspect that butter consumption is higher than the Canadian average here in Québec.
Yep: www.lesoleil.com/archives/etes-vous-beurre-ou-margarine-d05958b46a4bef8d4a31b897465c46e3 Still, less than France, given the margarine.
I never buy margarine, nor does my friend who lives downstairs. However, I do consume far more olive oil than butter.

I was shocked by the high margarine and low butter consumption in the Netherlands - with the notable exception of their very buttery and good cookies - that word for sweet biscuit comes from the Dutch. Margarine is still considered "the healthy fat" there; promotion by Unilever among the reasons.

We are also by far the largest wine drinkers in Canada, but drink spirits (hard liquor) less than anywhere else.

[tod2]

I was telling Mark that corn meal can be made absolutely delicious when made into a "Paptert" or 'Porridge Pie' (in English). It is very South African and served at a BBQ.
There are dozens upon dozens of recipes on the Net, and each one can be tweaked to suit ones palate.

My tip is to mix creamed or whole kernel corn into the stiffly cooked cornmeal porridge instead of layering it separately in the dish. Also, don't be shy with the cream. Poke holes with a wooden skewer into the layered tart when pouring over the cream so it can seep right down.

Here is a recipe I liked:

www.rainbowcooking.co.nz/recipes/paptert-porridge-pie

[rikita]

i suppose the corn flour in this is different from the one used for polenta?

[onlyMark]

In essence, no. Other than polenta, not instant, needs time to cook. What we have is more refined and is whiter to make a quick meal. It is all cornmeal.

tod, I'll look at that.

[tod2]

Rikita - Corn flour or Corn starch in my kitchen is used as a thickener for stews or a white sauce or something you might have made for Agnes - Sweet Blanc Mange made with milk & Cornflour.
Polenta is just finely ground yellow corn meal.
Like Mark, all maize meal sold here is made from white maize. Only when we had a shortage did they mix the two together. In a blind test I doubt one could tell the difference.

[tod2]

Bixa - I'm going to be hugely adventurous in my kitchen this year. If I can't get certain ingredients in my supermarket, I am noting them down and will try and buy them in Paris at the end of the year.
As you know I have asked about MOLE before and see it can even be bought in a jar. In my research I see Mole`s can take up 25 to 35 ingredients with a long and laborious method.

NEXT: Do you ever buy this plant leaf?
Piper auritum (Hoja santa). I see it is an aromatic herb with a heart-shaped, velvety leaf which grows in tropic Mesoamerica. The name hoja santa means "sacred leaf" in Spanish, as you would know. It is also known as yerba santa, hierba santa, Mexican pepperleaf, acuyo, tlanepa, anisillo, root beer plant, Vera Cruz pepper and sacred pepper.

[bixaorellana]

Tod, I have never made mole from scratch & never intend to. It is readily available here freshly made in paste form. The paste is then cooked and expanded with meat or fowl broth and often tomatoes as well. You could do the same with mole in a jar. This link describes the process of reconstituting mole paste. It's vague on amounts, but you'd definitely use more than one tomatoe per jar of paste.

Hoja santa would probably grow well where you live, or even take over your garden, your house, and your driveway. There is a stand of it growing in the semi-abandoned back yard next to my service patio and it grows year-round, even in drought. It's for sale fresh in the markets, but I never buy it since I can climb over the low wall to where I can pick it fresh.

[tod2]

Thank you so much Bixa - I had to know if you used Hoja Santa. Maybe tell me how or in what dish next time.
Tonight I proudly presented CARNITAS onto the dining table! They were perfect and I have a photo which I will post tomorrow.

[bixaorellana]

Carnitas!!! I am hugely impressed. It's easily one of the most delicious ways to prepare pork.

[tod2]

Carnitas

[bixaorellana]

Un triunfo por Tod! 👌

Go here at #s 16, 19. and 21 to see how authentic your carnitas are. Well done, Señora!

[Deleted]

When I visited Oaxaca many years ago I brought back many jars of different mole pastes.
I hosted a Oaxacan feast for about 10 people. Everyone loved it.

I'm curious as to whether or not there is somewhere here to purchase mole paste.

I would love to do it again.

I can safely say that the best cuisine I have ever eaten was in Oaxaca.

(Some dishes in Istanbul are right "up there" as well).

[tod2]

I am disappointed with my photo -taken a la cellphone - and can't seem to turn it the right way up.
The little yellowish blobs on the meat are some of the 12 garlic cloves I threw into the pot.

[lagatta]

How do carnitas differ from pulled pork? Are they more like a confit, as they are cooked in some kind of fat, usually lard, I guess.

I've made pulled duck, and googling for the hell of it, did indeed find duck carnitas recipes, though I doubt they are authentic. www.saveur.com/article/recipes/tacos-de-carnitas-de-pato-braised-duck-tacos

[rikita]

Jan 16, 2018 13:34:53 GMT tod2 said:

Rikita - Corn flour or Corn starch in my kitchen is used as a thickener for stews or a white sauce or something you might have made for Agnes - Sweet Blanc Mange made with milk & Cornflour.
Polenta is just finely ground yellow corn meal.
Like Mark, all maize meal sold here is made from white maize. Only when we had a shortage did they mix the two together. In a blind test I doubt one could tell the difference.

actually haven't made that - it isn't something common here, i think (wikipedia also tells me there are two types, one is with the corn starch) ... we have some starch that we use as thickener, have to check if it is from corn, sometimes i use just normal wheat flour as thickener though ... i guess if i want to try that dish, i could also go to an african shop (though i have no idea what parts of africa the ones i know refer to) and see what they have there? it is always the problem with international recipes though, that things aren't called the same in different places, and some things just aren't common, so difficult to get ... that happens even more so with cake recipes, especially the easy ones, where they use products for "short cuts" that i have never heard about ...

[tod2]

Rikita - the corn flour /corn starch is known by the name MAIZENA. It is what Blancmange is made out of. I haven't had it for years but basically it is a white custard but has no egg. Just milk. sugar and cornflour. Agnes will swoon over it especially if you colour it bright pink or green etc.

[rikita]

ok, tried the recipe tod2 linked, yesterday. went to a shop and asked which corn flour to use - the one they gave me was the same one as for polenta though. varied the recipe a bit, though - used less corn flour and more vegetables, so maybe it wasn't very authentic the way i made it ... anyway, it tasted quite good.

[lagatta]

Well, I bought a small frozen duck that was about 2$ lb, bit more than 4$kg. That is cheap here. I braised the duck at low for at least 3 hours, and it was sitting in a pool of clear duck fat atop what looks like very good stock (I did start it with homemade stock, and lime juice). I suppose I'll cut it up into poultry parts and grill the skin. A lot of it will make a tourtière (seasonal meat pie, including potatoes, onions and other vegetables and spices) and no doubt some of it will simply an ingredient in stir-fries or salads.

The fat is a treasure.